Business, Marketing, and New Technology
Business
Software for Filling out Insurance Forms
Feb 15th
Ever needed a doctor? Ever wonder why it costs so much? OK, well, I don’t have the answer to that one, but I used to work in a doctor’s office and I know that keeping the office running is a complicated thing. Between appointment assigning, and lab-work taking, and lab-work itself, the doctor’s visits, and transcribing his notes, and getting all the payment from and to the correct place – it is one complicated machine.
One of the most complicated aspects of the office is dealing with insurance. There are hundreds of insurance companies, all with their different rules, not to mention More >
Find Your Strategy
Feb 15th
Recently I ran across this quote, and it seems so powerful, that I’d like to share it with you.
“For any outcome that you want, there is certain way of thinking and acting that will get it for you. You have to find that way of thinking and acting, and adopt it.”
-Bill Harris
Worst Office Ever Contest
Jan 24th
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Contest Factory for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
Is your office horrible? Out of date? Old technology? Too small? Too crowded? Impossible?
Well, here’s your chance for a do-over! There’s a contest going on for the worst office ever.
It’s called the Pimp My Cube Contest and is being done by the Contest Factory. All you have to do is upload a video of your cube or office space and talk about all the reasons why it is so horrible. Let them know why it is important that you need your work space redone.
Once you get your video up, send the link to your friends and family so they can vote for it. You’ll get sweepstakes points in 4 ways- for registering, for voting, for commenting, and for inviting others to register for the contest. If the judges (and other voters) decide you have the best (or worst) video and compelling reasons to change it, you could win a total office makeover!
You could win the grand prize with a value of $1200! They will come and upgrade your office with one of these choices:
o New high end computer system
o New Desk, Chair and Decorations
o New Entertainment Package with high end stereo, espresso machine etc.
There is a second prize that will be chosen at random for $200. Not bad for just making a video of your crappy office space. Make sure to be witty and funny and crazy in your video, cause people love that; the wackier the better! But you’d better do it soon, as the contest period is almost over. It closes on January 31.
Just visit the Pimp My Cube site, register for the contest, and upload your videos to enter. And then, after the video is approved, be sure to have all your friends and family support you by voting for it. Put it on Facebook, and in your blog. Tell the world. It just might be worth a new office makeover for you!
Do you have the Worst Office Ever?
Dec 23rd
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Contest Factory for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
Here’s your chance to improve! Make a video of your office, with all the mess, the chaos, the outdated equipment, etc., and post it to the PMC site, for a chance for a Do-Over!
Just explain why your office is horrible, with noise, and dirt, and darkness, or whatever your particular problems are, and why the Contest Factory needs to come and “Pimp Your Cube”. Tell all your friends, coworkers, and family to go see your video and vote for it, and leave comments. You get sweepstake points for registering, for their votes and their comments, and for inviting others to upload their own videos. (not to mention, how horrible your space is…)
You could get your whole place “pimped” with a grand prize of $1200 to get new equipment, or new furniture, or even a high end stereo and/or espresso machine. It’s easy to upload your video to the site from your computer, your phone, or your webcam. And, there is a second prize of a $200 gift card to be chosen randomly.
Go check this out. Visit the site, Pimp My Cube Contest , register, and upload your videos to enter the contest. Then have all your friends vote on it. You just may win, because so far, there are very few videos in the running.
· The contest period is from 12/5/11 at 12:00PM to 1/31/12 at 12:00PM.
LG DoublePlay is Pretty Awesome
Dec 16th
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of LG DoublePlay™ for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
We all like our tech toys. I know I do. We were talking the other day about the movie “Back to the Future” where the comment was made that he had 3 televisions in his house, and the mother said, “Oh, he’s just kidding, no one has 3 televisions. Then we went on to talk about computers. I realized that I had no less than 7 computers, all functional, in my house. I carry two with me at all times, the laptop, and my phone, which does just about everything that the laptop does.
Isn’t that amazing? How far have we come in the last 50 years? My lifestyle has changed so, I can’t imagine being able to function without having one of those techy devices right by my side. I send dozens of texts a day, and the younger generation sends hundreds. Once, I had one of my kids texting the other one from the front seat of the car to the back seat of the car!
So, the devices we use to run our worlds is changing every day. I’ve discovered a new “toy” that can “slice and dice, and just about cook dinner for you”. It’s the new LG Double Play. It has dual customizable touch screens- one is a 3.5-inch main display and there is a 2.0-inch sub display ¾ that operate independently or in tandem, as well as a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Wow. Two screens. Who would have thought? But I can see how extremely useful that is going to be already. I spend at least a half hour on my phone using social networks, and this would really be handy to be able to research and send at the same time. The querty keyboard is a help too. Don’t you think that this ability would change the way you network? How much time do you spend doing that right now, anyway? Any way we can save time is a good thing.
This android based device is only available from T-Mobile, and it’s pretty amazing. I bet it’s more amazing than the phone you have now. Leave me a comment and tell me what you might do differently in your social networking if you had the LG DoublePlay™ .
27 Viruses At One Time
Dec 9th
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Norton Small Business by Symantec for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
Recently, I had an issue with my computer, and and I took it to my friendly neighborhood computer troubleshooter for some work. It’s always a bear to disconnect everything, and haul it over, even though the shop is nearby. The real issue is being without my computer for any length of time. Seems like the world stops revolving when my computer is out of commission. Then, when I get it back, I have to wade through hundreds of emails… what a pain.
At any rate, Emily found 27 viruses- count ‘em- 27! and cleaned them out of my machine. Thank God no permanent damage was done, but I can tell you, right then I began a search for better protection. I came across some information about Norton that I’d like to share with you.
Right now Norton has a 30% discount for small business owners that get certain products- primarily the 5U/10 products). So that’s a good thing right up front. For more info on this, go to get 30% off Norton Small Business Products now
My business is not very large, but it still could be crippled by random malware, and any small business runs the same risk. Without having some kind of virus and malware protection, you’re playing a dangerous game. Thinking that you have the one computer that will not fall victim is probably a little over optimistic. Everyone needs the kind of protection that Norton can give us.
Norton has a couple of services that they have just launched this past September, the Norton 360, and the Norton Internet Security 2012 . You can get more details here: Norton Small Business by Symantec
It would have been very handy for me to have had these services before my entire business crashed, due to those nasty viruses. I encourage you to check out these up-to-date services for protecting your computer, and your livelihood, before you have serious issues yourself.
You can leave a comment here if you wish and let me know which Norton product you might make the best use of, and how it’s going to benefit your business. Any and all thoughts are always welcome.
Norton Anti-Virus Takes the Cake
Dec 9th
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Norton Small Business by Symantec for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
As my loyal readers will be aware, I recently had an issue with my computer, which decided to invite a couple dozen viral guests to visit. OK, maybe they weren’t invited, but they came in anyway, and wreaked havoc on my computer. After having to pay to get it all cleaned out, I went searching for new malware prevention software.
Norton leads the way with their newly introduced products. They came out with two last September, the Norton 360 and the Norton Internet Security 2012. These two are cutting edge, and will most certainly take care of any issues that I may have. You should check them out here to make sure that you have the latest and greatest - Norton Small Business by Symantec . It sure would have saved me some grief, if I’d looked them up just a month sooner. You never know when that nasty Trojan will knock on your (virtual) door, but it surely would be a good idea to have some protection BEFORE it happens. Thinking and hoping and praying that it won’t happen is just not good business.
If your business depends on your computer, (and whose doesn’t?) then having good protection is vital. The nasties out there are forever trying to steal your identity, your bank account, or just mess up your system. I have no idea why the hacker get so much pleasure from pure destruction, especially when they don’t even know who is getting hit, but the reality of it is that they are there, and we all need to keep our systems safe. I’ve been doing some research, and am quite impressed with the protection that Norton provides. They current have a 30% discount for small businesses, so that’s a good deal. You can protect your Small Business from the latest online threats by getting more information.
What are you doing to keep your system safe? Have you had to deal with viruses that crashed your computer? Leave a comment for me, and tell me which one of the Norton products might benefit you, and why you think so. Thanks!
Business Telephone Systems Miami
Dec 4th
I have friends who live in Miami, Fla, USA. They have a small business there, and in spite of the rough times that the economy is dealing with, they seem to be doing very well. Their business has been steady, and actually growing bit by bit. I guess you could say they are one of the lucky ones. Although, if you talked to them, you would get story after story of how hard they are working, and how careful they are to keep expenses down.
It is often the capital expenses that can make or break a company, and they were telling me how important it is to make sure that the regular monthly expenses are kept to a minimum. This only makes sense. If you let your profits get chewed up by high costs that hit you again and again, there just is no way to get ahead. (I’ve noticed this with my own budget, haven’t you?)
One of the ways that they have managed to cut their expenses is by getting a really good deal on their business telephone services. They switched from having their old service, to a VOIP service from Telephone Systems Miami . Now they are saving about 50% over what they used to be paying. That’s a great savings, each and every month.
Still, just saving money is no great deal if the service is no good, so it’s very important to get hooked up with a company that gives really great customer service as well as good phone service. Being good stewards of their business money, my friends made sure to check this out with Miami City Information before they actually made the switch. This way they were sure that they knew what they were getting.
So far, they are really happy with the deal, saving money on the phone bill each month, and getting quality phone service to keep the business running smoothly. Way to go guys!
Delicious Gormet Coffee for Your Office
Nov 29th
This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Tassimo for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
It was Black Friday. 12:00 midnight. I had driven straight from Asheville, NC, (3 hours away) where I had enjoyed a great Thanksgiving dinner with my family. Still, since I was arriving home so very late, and I was still awake, I figured, why not hit the Black Friday Sales? So I did.
Cruising the store and gathering up great deals in my arms (there were no carts available) was no big deal. I didn’t want much, and I found it rather quickly. The problem was, the checkout line wrapped all the way around the store! Even that would not have been so bad, as it moved slowly and imperturbably forwards. The bad thing was, as I crawled my way to the front of the store, I saw one more thing I wanted to investigate. It was one of those awesome single serving coffee makers.
I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t get out of line with out losing my place. I couldn’t carry it in my arms, with all the other stuff. So… I just yearned, and gazed, as my slow steady shuffle worked me away, around the corner, and out of sight. *sigh*
Then, what should I encounter the next day at a friend’s office? Her company had an awesome Tassimo Professional Brewer right there in the break room! She could make coffee house style drinks right there at work- cappuccinos, and lattes, and all kinds of variations on flavors- hot chocolate and even Twinnings tea! It was so easy to use. All it takes is one touch, and there are LCD instructions for everything. There are many different individual disks for making your choice of drink, and they fit the office brewing machine exactly (so don’t even think about taking these home, folks, they will not fit the home brewers. 
I guess I have coffee and hot chocolate on my mind, because now I’m quite sure I want one of these machines for my office. My friend says I can sign up for a Tassimo Professional free demo anytime I want at baristainside.com/workplace. You can too, and I really suggest you do so. This brewer is amazing- once you see it in action, and taste the gourmet drinks that the Tassimo Professional can make, you’ll want one for your office, too.
Outsource Your Online Marketing Services
Nov 26th
Do you do any online marketing for other companies? Then this post is for you.
I don’t have to tell you how overwhelming it can be to keep track of every little detail for your numerous clients. There’s the social platforms, like FaceBook, and Twitter, and Linked In, not to mention the hundred of other social sites that vie for your attention. Keeping up with those alone is a challenge. How about blog posts? Do you offer those services for your clients also? The online world of marketing is huge, and complex, and can gobble up your time.
One way to deal with this effectively is by outsourcing. By choosing another company to do some of your work, it can not only save you time, effort, and money, it can often have much better results. This is because companies that specialize tend to do better at what they do.
In the case of SEO, a company that specializes in just that can run hundreds of campaigns, in all kinds of arenas. So they know what works and what doesn’t work. They can handle all the important aspects of running an online marketing campaign, such as visitors to the website, search engine rankings, back-links, or any of the other multiple tasks that are needed for a full online campaign. If you find a good outsourcing company that offers White labeled SEO, they can do all the hard work, better than you can, and you can still take the credit.
It’s a win for you, win for the outsourcing company, and win for the client.
I call that a good arrangement!